Modern Urianian nouns are inflected for case and number, and in addition are divided into various classes, of which three are overwhelmingly more abundant than the others, bearing the traditional names of feminine, masculine and neuter. The numbers are singular and plural. Modern Urianian has no traces of the dual number in the nominal morphology, though there are traces in the pronouns. All of the Indoeuropean cases are preserved in the standard language. In addition, the nouns have demonstrative forms, which are little used in daily speech, but more in songs and poetry.
1. Case and number inflection of regular feminine, masculine and neuter nouns
In the dictionary, regular feminine, masculine and neuter nouns are denoted (f), (m) and (n) respectively. Examples: merd - girl, nad - boy, avir - bag.
| Case | fem.sg | fem.pl | masc.sg | masc.pl | neut.sg | neut.pl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | merde | merdet | nad | nadi | avir | avre |
| Accusative | merden | merdat | nada | nadet | avra | avre |
| Dative | merde | merdent | nadai | nadant | avrai | avrant |
| Genitive | merdet | merdan | nadja | nadan | avria | avran |
| Locative | merde | merdei | nadu | nadvi | avru | avrui |
| Ablative | merdet | merdent | nadat | nadant | avrat | avrant |
| Instrumental | merde | merdint | nadi | nadait | avri | avrait |
| Vocative | merde | merdet | nadi | nadat | avran | avre |
These nouns are pretty regular. The only things you have to look out for is the disappearance of unstressed vowels after a non-cluster, such as the i in avir, when an ending is appended, and the locative plural, which is -ui after an unstressed vowel or a cluster, including those that result from dropping an unstressed vowel, and otherwise -fi after bilabials (m, b, p) and -vi elsewhere. Some few masculine nouns belong to the a-stems and take the feminine inflection, except that they don’t have the -e ending in the nominative. They are marked (ma) in the dictionary.
2. Case and number inflection of regular i-, io-, u- and r-stem nouns and diphthong nouns
In the dictionary, these nouns are marked (ni), (nio), (nu), (nr), and (nd) respectively. Examples: abu - farmboy, bangail - pavement, agd - night, bedir - father, cav - head of cattle.
| Case | ni.sg | ni.pl | nio.sg | nio.pl | nu.sg | nu.pl | nr.sg | nr.pl | nd.sg | nd.pl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | abu | abit | bangail | bangaili | agde | agdait | bedir | bedrit | cav | cavit |
| Accusative | abun | abit | bangalja | bangaljat | agden | agdet | bedra | bedret | can | cat |
| Dative | aby | abunt | bangaili | bangalunt | agdavi | agdent | bedru | bedrunt | cavu | cont |
| Genitive | abit | abjan | bangaleja | bangaljan | agdat | agdun | bedrat | bedran | cavat | cavan |
| Locative | abi | abfi | bangalu | bangalvi | agda | agdue | bedru | bedarse | cavu | cose |
| Ablative | abit | abunt | bangaljat | bangalunt | agdat | agdent | bedrat | bedrunt | cavat | cont |
| Instrumental | abu | abunt | bangaly | bangalyt | agde | agdent | bedria | bedrunt | cavi | cont |
| Vocative | abi | abit | bangalu | bangaljat | agda | agdait | bedre | bedrit | cav | cavit |
3. Irregular noun inflections
These nouns have various patterns, denoted with n1, n2 etc. in the dictionary. Examples: (n1) aju - eye, (n2) birju - oak, (n3) braj - colour, (n4) be - boy, (n5) ci - life, (n6) cyr - power, (n7) ei - metal, (n8) ei - egg, (n9) eje - lake, (n10) eneir - leader, (n11) fly - crybaby, (n12) friv - eyebrow, (n13) gedinx - highwayman, (n14) giri - red deer, (n15) mev - son, (n16) gla - shelter.
| Case | n1.sg | n1.pl | n2.sg | n2.pl | n3.sg | n3.pl | n4.sg | n4.pl | n5.sg | n5.pl | n6.sg | n6.pl | n7.sg | n7.pl | n8.sg | n8.pl | n9.sg | n9.pl | n10.sg | n10.pl | n11.sg | n11.pl | n12.sg | n12.pl | n13.sg | n13.pl | n14.sg | n14.pl | n15.sg | n15.pl | n16.sg | n16.pl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | aju | acit | birju | birjet | braj | brajet | be | bei | ci | cie | cyr | cyri | ei | eje | ei | eje | eje | ejet | eneir | eneiri | fly | flyt | friv | frivi | gedinx | gedinkit | giri | girit | mev | mevet | gla | glet |
| Accusative | ajun | ajunt | birjun | birjet | brajun | brajet | bea | beat | cia | ciat | cirja | cirjat | eja | ejet | eja | eje | ejen | ejat | enerja | enerjat | flyn | flynt | friva | frivet | gedinkan | gedinkant | gyren | gyrent | meven | mevent | glan | glent |
| Dative | acy | ajunt | birjavi | birjunt | braje | brajunt | bevai | beant | cei | cint | cyri | cirjunt | eje | ejant | eje | ejant | eje | ejent | eneiri | enrunt | flye | flynt | frivai | frivant | gedinku | gedinkant | gyre | gyrent | mevi | mevent | glai | glent |
| Genitive | acit | acin | birjat | birjun | brajat | brajun | beja | bean | cia | cian | cirjaj | cirjan | eia | ejan | eia | ejan | ejet | ejan | enreja | enerjan | flyt | flynan | frea | frivan | gedinkat | gedinkan | gyret | gyran | mevat | mevan | glet | glajan |
| Locative | aci | ajui | birja | birjue | braja | braive | bevu | bevi | cy | civi | ciru | cirvi | eju | eivi | eju | eivi | eje | ejo | enru | enervi | flye | flyo | freu | frese | gedinku | gedinxe | gyre | gyro | meu | meve | glye | glaje |
| Ablative | acit | ajunt | birjat | birjunt | brajat | brajunt | beat | beant | ciat | cint | cirjat | cirjunt | ejat | ejant | ejat | ejant | ejet | ejent | enerjat | enrunt | flyt | flynt | frivat | frivant | gedinat | gedinkant | gyret | gyrent | mevat | mevent | glet | glent |
| Instrumental | aju | ajunt | birju | birjunt | braju | brajunt | bevi | bevait | cie | cint | ciry | ciryt | eje | ejet | eje | ejet | eje | ejent | enry | enryt | flye | flynt | frivi | frivait | gedinkam | gedinkunt | gyre | gyrent | meve | mevent | gle | glent |
| Vocative | aci | acit | birja | birjet | braja | brajet | be | beat | ci | ciat | ciru | cirjat | eje | ejat | ejan | eje | eje | ejet | enru | enerjat | fly | flyt | frivi | frivat | gedink | gedinkit | gyr | gyret | meva | mevet | glaje | glet |
4. Case and number inflection of the demonstrative forms in the three commonest noun classes
| Case | fem.sg | fem.pl | masc.sg | masc.pl | neut.sg | neut.pl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | merdis | merdet | nadas | nadid | etur | etre |
| Accusative | merdiden | merdatet | nadandan | nadestan | etrandat | etred |
| Dative | merdetsuj | merdatan | nadaidan | nadantin | etraidan | etrantin |
| Genitive | merdeti | merdandian | nadits | nadandian | etrits | etrandian |
| Locative | merdedaun | merdetes | nadidan | nadved | etridan | eturved |
| Ablative | merdetit | merdematin | nadatant | nadamat | etratant | etramat |
| Instrumental | merdedi | merdemuta | nadidin | nadaitin | etridin | etraitin |
The vocative does not have special demonstrative forms. The regular vocatives are used instead.
The demonstrative forms are used sparingly when it suits you to do without a demonstrative pronoun, such as this, that. They are rather less common in daily speech than in songs and poetry.
5. Case and number inflection of the personal pronouns
| Case | 1st.sg | 2nd.sg | 3rd.sg | 1st.pl | 2nd.pl | 3rd.pl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | mi | de | se | nunt | ejet | it |
| Accusative | mi | di | si | nit | ut | it |
| Dative | me | du | su | nemi | umi | mat |
| Genitive | ma | da | sa | jan | van | san |
| Locative | mi | di | im | nit | ut | ve |
| Ablative | mit | det | imat | ezt | unt | mat |
| Instrumental | imi | mut |
Because personal endings are used on the verbs, nominative personal pronouns are little used. But they can be handy for emphatic identifications, for example. There are no vocative personal pronouns. In polite addressing, the plural forms of the 2nd person pronouns are used instead, as in so many languages.
6. Interrogatives
There are several interrogative pronouns to choose from, and an interrogative particle that is used to signal questions where an interrogative pronoun is missing.
jut - who, what, whereto
jun - to what, to whom
jum - why, where
juse - whose
jumat - wherefrom, against whom
ju - how
jud - how many
jubli - how much
juri - when
uf - if/interrogative particle.
The interrogatives may also be used as adverbs or relative pronouns. However, this usage is rare in Urianian compared to other European languages, due to the extensive use of participles, especially in the standard written language.
6. Demonstrative pronouns
There are basically three demonstrative pronouns: gi - this, dat - that and ina - yonder. But since they are declinable in case and number, they may take on several other useful meanings.
Nominative:
gi - this; dat - that; ina - yonder
get - these; det - those; ine - those over yonder
Accusative:
gin - hither, to this; dan - thither, to that; inan - to, towards yonder
get - to, towards these; de - to, towards those; inet - to, towards those over yonder
Dative:
gimai - herefore, because of this, so, thus; damai - therefore, because of that, so, thus; inai - because of yonder
gent - because of these; dint - because of those; inant - because of those over yonder
Genitive:
get - of, by this; daja - of, by that; inja - of, by yonder
gnan - of, by these; disan - of, by those; inan - of, by those over
yonder
Locative:
gim - here; dam - there; inam - over yonder
gis - these here; dis - those there; inus - those over yonder
Ablative:
git - from here, this; damat - from there, that; inat - from yonder
gmat - from these; dimat - from those; inmat - from those over yonder
Instrumental:
gia - now, hereby, like this, so; d’ - then, thereby, like that; in’ - once, with, by, like that over yonder
gunt - with, by, like these; dit - with, by, like these; init - with, by, like those over yonder
Usage examples: abu - farmboy, bangail - pavement, agd - night, bedir - father, cav - head of cattle.